By Kaitlan Collins and Tierney Sneed, CNN

(CNN) — Amy Gleason is the acting administrator of the US DOGE Service, the agency that houses the temporary Department of Government Efficiency, a White House official told CNN on Tuesday.

The announcement, after weeks of questions about Elon Musk’s official role and authority over DOGE, reveals the technical leader of the Musk-driven initiative tasked with reconfiguring the federal government.

Gleason has a background in health care and previously worked at the US Digital Service, an office created by President Barack Obama and most recently named after DOGE. Her position with DOGE was first reported by the Washington Examiner.

She also worked in President Donald Trump’s first term, including being placed on the White House Coronavirus Task Force’s data team, led by Dr. Deborah Birx, because of Gleason’s technology background. In that role, Gleason led the creation of the national Covid-19 case tracker database.

Before returning to government work, Gleason joined Russell Street Ventures, a firm founded by Brad Smith, who is now a DOGE adviser.

Despite pledging full transparency, the White House has refused or been unable to identify the administrator of DOGE, including during Tuesday’s press briefing. While Musk has served as the initiative’s public face and continues to issue social-media directives to government workers, the White House has maintained that his status is one of a special government employee, and not a full-time worker.

“So, the president tasked Elon Musk to oversee the DOGE effort,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier Tuesday when asked directly who was administering the initiative. “There are career officials and there are political appointees who are helping run DOGE on a day-to-day basis.”

Justice Department attorneys were grilled in a court appearance Monday about who the administrator was, but none were able to say then, either.

“Who’s involved? Who’s in charge? Who’s giving them direction?” Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly asked government attorneys at the hearing, which examined DOGE’s access to sensitive data systems at the Treasury Department.

Judges, including Kollar-Kotelly, have raised the lack of clarity around DOGE’s structure as impeding their ability to decide the emergency disputes before them.

She and others have raised possible constitutional issues, depending on the chain of command at DOGE and who is behind the sweeping decisions that have the upended federal government’s operations in recent weeks.

The White House official did not say how long Gleason has been the acting administrator.

It had been unclear to some employees if Gleason had the acting administrator position when she led an all-staff meeting in person in Washington, DC, last week. She did not make it known nor did people ask at the time. Gleason gave a message at the meeting signaling, “I am here to move the organization forward and to reassure you that all your projects are a priority,” according to a federal employee who has worked with Gleason but asked to remain anonymous because they weren’t authorized to discuss her new role.

The employee described Gleason, in general, as “direct and to the point.”

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNN’s Sunlen Serfaty, Michael Williams and Shania Shelton contributed to this report.

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